Posted by noa on September 24, 2000, at 14:39:35
In reply to Re: SERZONE: It does work, posted by JasonL on September 18, 2000, at 15:00:33
> > YOu use both drugs? HOw does that work out for you
> > ?Sorry I haven't responded to this question. I was unable to access this site for about a week. Don't know why.
Yes, I take 300 mg. effexor xr, and 300 mg serzone. The effexor, I take in the morning, and the serzone in the evening. I also take synthroid and cytomel for hypothyroid and hypothyroid-related depression. And ritalin.
This recipe was finally arrived at in the spring, and thank goodness. It is a good one for me. The effexor is a good basic antidepressent for me, but it caused me to feel restless, agitated, nervous, twitchy, and unable to sleep, especially when taken at higher doses. So, for a while, I was taking trazodone at night to be able to sleep, but the trazodone's effect got weaker and weaker. The doc recommended trying serzone, which turned out to be less intensely sedating than the trazodone, like a longer-acting, smoother sedation. If I took it at night, as I had with the trazodone, I couldn't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning, and then couldn't get up in the am. But, I discovered that if I take it at 6 pm-ish, it works well.
I think others can explain better how the serzone and effexor target different serotonin receptors. Apparently, the effexor acts on the serotonin system, as well as norepinephrine, but the serotonin effect was too strong for me. The serzone somehow deactivates the unwanted serotonin effects, like restlessness, twitchy movements, and insomnia.
This is how it works for me. Others find that effexor makes them sleepy and in those cases, I don't know if adding serzone would be beneficial or not.
But this combo is the best I have found, after years of searching. Figuring out the hypothyroid peice was a major major major factor in my depression finally starting to let up, but I also feel that the serzone/effexor combo is important, too.
poster:noa
thread:44524
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000905/msgs/45197.html